CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charleston Battery finished the 2017 USL regular season in second place in the USL Eastern Conference following a 1-0 win against Southern Derby rivals the Charlotte Independence at the Sportsplex at Matthews on Saturday night. The Independence went for the match from the opening whistle, trying to arrest a run of poor form and head to the USL Cup Playoffs in some form but the Battery held out well. That strong defensive performance was rewarded in the 35th minute as some beautiful passing unlocked the Independence defense, and Kotaro Higashi sent in a through ball for Ataulla Guerra who slid it in for the goal, just beating the defensive clearance attempt. Only a stunning Odisnel Cooper save kept the Battery in front as he got to the ball at full stretch to deny a Jorge Herrera free kick in the closing stages of the first half. Cooper denied Herrera again in the 55th minute with a touch to turn it onto the crossbar, allowing his team to clear. Herrera’s back luck continued in the 63rd minute as he thought he scored but was denied by an offside flag. Charlotte went for the match, throwing on attacking players for defenders in the final 15 minutes but could not break down the strong Battery defense, who held on well for the win.

Scoring:
35’ – CHS – Ataulla Guerra (Kotaro Higashi)

• #CLTvCHS: Full Match and Opta Box Score

Three Things That Matter:

• 1. With the goal Ataulla Guerra brought his total for the season to six goals and moved him up to third in the Battery scoring rankings. With six goals, Guerra has had his best goal-scoring season as a professional player, well up on his highest total in a season, one, from last year. It was also the second straight match Guerra managed a goal, putting the attacking midfielder in form ahead of the playoffs.

• 2. After scoring eight goals in July, things have well and truly dried up for Jorge Herrera of the Charlotte Independence. Herrera has gone over two months without scoring a goal for the Independence, a big part of the poor run for the Independence which now stretches to five straight losses. Herrera will need to find form ahead of next week’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, having not scored since July 29th.

• 3. With the win, the Charleston Battery clinched second place in the Eastern Conference, their best finish in the Eastern Conference in their history. With the No. 2-seed in, Charleston will host an Eastern Conference Semifinal would it win against one of the New York Red Bulls II, Bethlehem Steel FC or FC Cincinnati next week. Meanwhile the loss for Charlotte will send it back to Rochester for a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against the No. 4-seed Rhinos at Capelli Sport Stadium.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:

Odisnel Cooper, Charleston Battery – Making four spectacular saves to keep a clean sheet, his 10th of the season, Odisnel Cooper was vital in the Charleston goal as he kept Charlotte at bay and clinching the second seed for the Battery.

Upcoming Games:
Charlotte Independence – Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, TBA
Charleston Battery – Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, TBA